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Neil MacGregor – SHAKESPEARE’S RESTLESS WORLD : A Portrait Of An Era In Twenty Objects
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Shakespeare’s Restless World : A Portrait of an Era in Twenty Objects

Neil MacGregor
BRAND NEW, HARDCOVER
Neil MacGregor
BRAND NEW, HARDCOVER

RM28.00

Uncovers A Unique & Engaging Perspective On The World Of William Shakespeare Using Twenty Objects From His Time To Explore The Cultural, Social And Political Context of His Writing

ISBN 9780670026340
Book Condition BRAND NEW
Format HARDCOVER
Publisher Viking Books
Publication Date 1/10/2013
Pages 320
Weight 0.88 kg
Dimension 23.1 × 15.2 × 3.3 cm
Availability: 1 in stock

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The New York Times bestselling author of A History of the World in 100 Objects brings the world of Shakespeare and the Tudor era of Elizabeth I into focus. Indeed, it is an engaging exploration of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras in England through the lens of twenty carefully selected objects from that period.
 
We feel we know Shakespeare’s characters. Think of Hamlet, trapped in indecision, or Macbeth’s merciless and ultimately self-destructive ambition, or the Machiavellian rise and short reign of Richard III. They are so vital, so alive and real that we can see aspects of ourselves in them. But their world was at once familiar and nothing like our own.
 
In this brilliant work of historical reconstruction Neil MacGregor and his team at the British Museum, working together in a landmark collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC, bring us twenty objects that capture the essence of Shakespeare’s universe. A perfect complement to A History of the World in 100 Objects, MacGregor’s landmark. New York Times bestseller, Shakespeare’s Restless World highlights a turning point in human history.


The premise of the book is to use these twenty objects as windows into the culture, society, and politics of Shakespeare’s time. Each object is carefully chosen to represent a specific aspect of the era and is used as a starting point for exploring the historical context in which Shakespeare lived and worked. MacGregor uses these objects to paint a vivid picture of daily life, culture, and society during the time of William Shakespeare, one of the most celebrated playwrights and poets in English literature. Each of the chosen objects is examined in detail, and its historical and cultural significance is discussed.
 
The objects chosen range from items related to theater and literature, such as a Shakespearean-era silver-gilt boar badge, to more everyday items like a knife that gives insight into dining habits and social customs of the time. These objects are used to provide a window into various aspects of life during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, including religion, politics, entertainment, trade, and technology.
 
Example of some of 20 objects reproduced in MacGregor’s work:
● Hakluyt Principal Navigations (1599). Shakespeare’s reference in Twelfth Night to ‘the new map with the augmentation of the Indies’.
● Francis Drake (1580) who is depicted with his hand on a globe to highlight his great feat.
● Portrait of David Kindt who was master of the Hamburg painters’ guild. He painted himself with a watch, a new and valuable item. In Twelfth Night, Malvolio fantasizes about being a rich watch-owning gentleman.
● Plutarch’s Lives, as translated by Thomas North in either the 1579 or 1595 editions, was probably Shakespeare’s most important source for his Roman plays, especially Julius Caesar (1599).
● The so-called First Folio (London, 1623) was brought together by Shakespeare’s colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell ‘onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend, & Fellow alive’.
 
This magnificent book, illustrated throughout with more than one hundred vibrant color photographs, invites you to travel back in history and to touch, smell, and feel what life was like at that pivotal moment, when humankind leaped into the modern age. This was an exhilarating time when discoveries in science and technology altered the parameters of the known world. Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation map allows us to imagine the age of exploration from the point of view of one of its most ambitious navigators. A bishop’s cup captures the most sacred and divisive act in Christendom.
 
With A History of the World in 100 Objects, MacGregor pioneered a new way of telling history through artifacts. Now he trains his eye closer to home, on a subject that has mesmerized him since childhood, and lets us see Shakespeare and his world in a whole new light. By focusing on these tangible artifacts and providing historical context, It offers readers a unique and accessible way to explore the world in which Shakespeare lived and wrote.
 
The book concludes with an emotional connection to our world of today, showing the effect of Shakespeare’s plays on people around the world, in various different situations. A touching anecdote of Marcel Reich-Ranicki’s Shakespearean quote during a time of utter stress in the Warsaw Ghetto demonstrates the development of Shakespearean words, moving from local Elizabethan stages in England in 1600 to become universal collections of stories for all the world to admire, over 400 years later:
 
Hence, “Shakespeare’s Restless World” offers a unique and engaging perspective on the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and sheds light on the historical backdrop against which Shakespeare’s literary genius flourished. It’s a recommended read for anyone interested in Shakespearean literature, history, and the cultural milieu of the early modern period in England.
 
“For those living the dark moments of history, as for those exploring the wilder or the sweeter shores of love, Shakespeare’s words console, inspire, illuminate and question. More simply, they capture for us the essence of what it is for us to be restlessly human in a constantly restless world.”

Recommended to anyone with a passion for Shakespeare, history and art!
 
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About the Authors:
 
Neil MacGregor has been the director of the British Museum since 2002; prior to that, he was the director of the National Gallery in London. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller A History of the World in 100 Objects.
 
Neil MacGregor is a world-renowned museum director who transformed the British Museum since he took charge in 2002. He is the author of “A History of the World in 100 Objects” a New York Times bestseller. He is the author of “Germany, Memories of a Nation” named Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement and a favorite book of mine.

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